Abstract

Nigeria is often perceived as the ‘giant of Africa’ by most Africans, perhaps, because of its remarkable achievements in the continent in the past three decades. Today, the same country is looked upon by the rest of the world as a ‘crippled’ giant, a veritable modern wasteland, a nation where corruption is extolled as a national culture, tradition; as a nation of business scams and fraudulent investment and contractual opportunities. The paper argues that the situation became worse during Olusegun Obasanjo’s eight years administration 1999 to 2007 when his government tactically opened the floodgate of elite corruption and primitive accumulation, which subsequently brought the country to its knees.

Key words: Elite, corruption, primitive accumulation, development, economy.